Gardner, an All-Pac 12 selection, recorded nine kills in the first set and did not let up, finishing the evening with 28.5 points overall while hitting .315 from her outside hitter position.
Jazzmin Babers, a redshirt sophomore middle blocker, led the Aggies with 13 kills and a match-high eight blocks as A&M outblocked the Sun Devils, 14-9. Freshman opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor added 11 kills while hitting a team-high .318. Junior middle blocker Shelby Sullivan also reached double-digit kills with 10, while freshman setter Stephanie Aiple dished out 38 assists.
Freshman libero Amy Nettles led A&M in digs with 13, and sophomore outside hitter Emily Hardesty scooped up 11.
A&M used an early 7-2 run to take a three-point lead in the first set before it turned into a back-and-forth affair, one which featured 12 ties and saw no lead grow to more than three points.
With the set deadlocked at 18, a Sun Devil service error and an Angela Lowak kill put the Aggies up by two and forced an ASU timeout. Arizona State responded, scoring the next four points to take a 22-20 lead. It was there that freshman Kiara McGee came off the bench, and the tide turned in A&M’s favor. Kills by Sullivan and Aiple tied the set before McGee sandwiched back-to-back kills around another ASU timeout. Babers wasted no time in putting the set away, slamming home the next point for her fourth kill of the set and a 25-22 win.
The second set quickly turned in Arizona State’s favor as the Sun Devils scored the first three points out of the gate. The lead would grow to as many as six at 10-4 before forcing A&M to call its first timeout. The Sun Devils, who outhit A&M, .233 to .029, went on to lead by as many as 10 points (17-7) and were ahead, 22-15, when a Sullivan kill and back-to-back ASU attack errors put the Aggies within four. The Devils would respond with quick kills from McKenzie Willey and Gardner to reach set point and closed out the 25-20 win a few swings later with another Gardner kill.
Texas A&M struggled to get into any kind of rhythm and quickly fell behind, 10-6, in the third set. The Aggies managed to cut the deficit in half at 14-12 on a dump kill by Aiple, but ASU countered with a kill, a block and an ace, followed by a four-hit violation by A&M to go up, 18-12. The Sun Devils built their largest lead at 21-14 following consecutive attack errors by the Aggies. Trailing 22-15, McGee put down a cross-court kill, but any hopes of a comeback were squelched as A&M served into the net, and Gardner put down her fifth kill of the set and teamed for a block to close out the 25-16 win, giving the Sun Devils a 2-1 lead in the match.
There were 12 ties and seven lead changes in the final set. ASU used a 6-1 run to build its largest lead at 18-15, forcing A&M to call a timeout. The Aggies rallied coming out of the timeout, with Sullivan starting the comeback with a kill on the slide attack. She then teamed with Lowak for a block. A&M had an attack error on the next play before Sullivan came back with another kill on the slide play. Babers then knotted the score at 19, tooling the ASU block for a kill. Sullivan followed with an ace to put A&M up, 20-19, giving the Aggies their first lead since 14-13.
ASU used a timeout to regroup and then got a kill to tie the score. Babers committed an uncharacteristic error on the ensuing play as her attack attempt sailed out, returning the lead to the Sun Devils, 21-20. Lowak tied the score for the final time with a kill, before Gardner answered with back-to-back kills and Whitney Follette followed with a kill to put the Sun Devils at set and match point. Babers kept the Aggies alive with a kill before an A&M overpass set up Follette for the match-clinching kill, with A&M being called for a blocking error on the play.
Texas A&M was making its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championship and its 18th in the 22-year tenure of head coach Laurie Corbelli. The loss marked the end of the career for the Aggies’ lone senior, Sydney Wilhelm. A first-year player who joined the squad after two seasons on the Aggie club team, the fearless outside attacker made five starts and played in 22 matches, including tonight’s match in which she appeared in one set and was 1-for-1 in kill attempts.
ASU, which had eight aces and outhit the Aggies, .264 to .180 for the match, will meet sixth-ranked and No. 2 seed Texas in the second round on Friday, after the Longhorns opened tournament play with a 3-0 victory over Northwestern State.
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Post-match Quotes:
Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Laurie Corbelli
Opening Statement: “We were really reflecting mostly on our season, not so much the match tonight. It was really obvious to all of us, and probably most of everybody that watched, that it was a struggle for us to get into a rhythm and our normal way of playing for whatever reason. It was quite frustrating for the girls on the court, as much as they tried, nothing really seemed to go their way. I saw the frustration, and I saw the effort. It was a tough way to end a season that we are really proud of, and you know, we have a huge future ahead of us. We may be the youngest team in the NCAA, but we have a great future, and that’s really what it’s about right now.”
On program getting this experience: “Thank you for that question, because it’s really important for our future. We’re always gunning for the NCAA tournament, and there are teams there right now that had quality seasons, and we are fortunate that even though we are very young and had a tie for fourth that we were selected to be in the tournament. This experience was brand new for our starters, and actually, we played a fourth starter as a freshman. It is a totally different feel when you’re in the NCAA tournament. It’s a little bit overwhelming possibly for some of them, and I don’t think the team really understood and knew what to expect on the floor in that kind of game. These two veterans (Babers and Sullivan) had a better feel for it and did their best to encourage and bring along the others, but we need the chance to get in the training gym and really train and teach. They are already self-motivated and already very talented and very bright, it’s just a matter of time. This was an important match for us, and as sad as we are and disappointed in our performance, I don’t doubt that this group will only improve and get better and have amazing seasons in the future.”
Jazzmin Babers
On frustration throughout the game: “I feel like we just had a lot of adrenaline and tried to express it in different ways. We were really excited to play and really hoped that we would win, but I think we just had so much adrenaline that we didn’t know what to do with it.”
Shelby Sullivan
On frustration throughout the game: “It was evident that every player was playing so hard and they wanted it so bad, but it didn’t necessarily work the way we wanted it to. But we are just so proud of this team and the effort that we put into it and the future that is to come.”
Arizona State
Head Coach Jason Watson
Opening Statement: “It was nice not to go five [sets]. We’ve gone five 14 times this year, so that was a little unique for us, but I thought we played well. I’m pretty proud of our team. We’ve showed a lot of character coming out of a very, very difficult conference season for us. Conference season in general to make it to our third NCAA tournament and finally get a win. The magic belongs to the athletes, more so than it does to this coaching staff, and I thought they were remarkably consistent and played incredibly poised, especially as Texas A&M made this phenomenal run in set four. So we’re very pleased to advance.”
Setter Bianca Arellano
On what it means to come all the way from their freshman year to advancing to the second round: “Now that we’ve already had an accomplishment made. Coincidentally my freshman year, we lost in five [sets] in the first round and to make this accomplishment and set this goal. Let’s just get past the first round. We’ve already done that so now we’re just going to ride out the tournament.”
Middle Blocker Whitney Follette
On what it means to come all the way from their freshman year to advancing to the second round: “Me and Macey were there for the first two years going to the tournament and losing in the first round of the games. It felt really good to win that first game and to execute and finish every point and finish the match so we weren’t having to go five [sets] like we went the last two years. It’s really encouraging to keep going and know that our team is really special this year, and we have something more to go with.”
On beating Texas last year: “I don’t think we want to depend on that too much. That was a season ago. That was preseason. We were hot. We just played very loose there in preseason. Obviously we’re going to take that into account. We can hang with this type of team. So what if they’re seeded two in the tournament. We just got to play it as it comes. Take the game slow. They kind of run a little bit higher ball, and it’s just about what makes a set. Watching their tendencies, which we’re going to go do right now, and take care of the game one point at a time.”
Outside Hitter Macey Gardner
On what it means to come all the way from their freshman year to advancing to the second round: “At the beginning of the season, we made this goal that we were going to make it to the tournament first and that we were going to do well. In my head, it was getting past that first game. Look at where we are now. It’s really encouraging and I think we’re ready for whatever comes at us. Our attitude is strong, and we’re just ready to play who’s next.”
On them wanting to just do well: “Right. We didn’t want it to be outcome-based and feel like at the end of the year, if we didn’t reach our goal, what we had done at that point wasn’t good because we’re a good team. We’ve played hard and our conference is hard, and every night we go out and battle. We didn’t want it to be an outcome-based goal. We wanted it to be something we could make up on our own as time went on. I think we’re in the process of doing that right now.”
On what they have to do to beat Texas: “They have to win first. I think for us, they’re very physical. Coach was talking about this in the locker room. They hit high, they hit hard and that means we have to play along. We have to play defense well and have good eyes, and make sure we’re getting good touches and good looks at the ball. We’re ready for whatever comes at us, and I think we’re really excited if it is Texas, that we’re going to take care of our game, our side of the court and not worry about who’s on the other side.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics